Shoe manufacturers constantly strive to make shoes which combine pleasing styles with a variety of functional considerations, such as comfort, durability, and shock absorption. Of these desired features, adequate shock absorption is the most difficult to achieve. Although favorable shock absorption characteristics may be relatively easy to obtain when making an athletic shoe, such as running shoes, basketball shoes, or walking shoes, obtaining adequate shock absorbing characteristics is made much more difficult when the shoe designer is constrained by the traditional aesthetic demands of the conventional dress shoe. Unfortunately, the conventional leather-soled dress shoe with a relatively hard rubber heel transmits a great deal of impact force to the wearer's foot, resulting in less comfort and increased fatigue.
A number of approaches have been tried in order to improve the shock absorption of conventional dress shoes. One such approach uses padded sockliners over hard insole boards. However, the padded sockliners typically bottom out under load, and the hard insole board results in an unusually stiff shoe which interferes with the foot's natural stride. Another approach is the use of molded unit soles, which give only partial comfort. Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved shoe construction for dress shoes as well as other types of shoes that provides enhanced shock absorption without interfering with the foot's natural stride.